Members of the Union Park Residents Association (UPRA) have shown Mumbaiites a way to enjoy an evening walk while staying committed to environment conservation, as well.

The city's first eco-friendly garden will open in Union Park, Khar, today with a water recycling set up, compost pits and solar panels.

Solar panels will provide electricity to the 30 lamp posts in the park Pic/ Bipin Kokate

Member of Parliament Priya Dutt and Member of Legislative Assembly Baba Siddiqui will inaugurate the Union Park Municipal Eco Friendly garden in the evening.

The park was adopted by UPRA two years ago, which used money from the MLA fund to make it eco-friendly. The renovation took a year.

"Most of the residential buildings in the area have begun treating waste and recycling water. The park offered us a bigger space to do this, which would benefit citizens," said UPRA Secretary Bharati Kakkad.

The association has installed solar panels that will provide electricity to 30 lamp posts in the park and will not be dependent on BEST or any other electricity provider. "We will also decompose the green waste from the garden and convert it into manure. We have set up a small plant to recycle waste water from the park, which will channel the water back for irrigating the park," Kakkad added.

According to Navin Chandra, chairman of UPRA, the garden requires 7,000 litres of water every day. "It is better to use non-potable water which the plant will supply, rather than treated drinking water that the BMC supplies, to irrigate the garden."

"It is good that the park has been renovated. The new one has more space. Also, having an eco friendly park in the vicinity is inspiring and sends out a good message to other localities of the city," said Ameya Revdankar, a resident of Union Park.